Digitized bits of Middle Tennessee History. How much do you remember?

Archive for the ‘1950s’ Category

From a book published by First American National Bank called “Homes of Tennessee” in 1956

Miles of View
Home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Boyd, Jr. Nashville
Miles of View, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Boyd, Jr., is an estate of fifty-three acres located at 1304 Chickering Road (Belle Meade). With an abundance of forest trees and planting, there is a widespread view from this home, on the rise of a hill, of the surrounding hills and countryside.
Near this home is a lake for fishing.

This was a little promotional date book that a local TV repairman used to keep track of his business briefly in 1957.Lizzie Humble AL5-6859 BR7-4003A list of tubes kept in the car.Evidently Nettie Ruth’s radio needed 2 capacitors, 1 tube and a pilot bulb.

I was born and raised in Nashville. My parents were not natives, but each moved to Nashville at such a young age that this city has always been home. I grew up listening to stories about the legendary banana splits that Jerry fixed for my mother when she was pregnant with me. (Her doctor had advised her to gain weight at some point during the pregnancy.)When I saw the original post about The Chocolate Shop, I showed it to my Dad, and he wrote up the following recollections:In the late 1940s, the Anderson family lived on Sweetbriar Ave. a few doors east of Belmont Blvd. They owned Candyland at the corner of Church St. and 7th Ave. N. A relative owned Candyland, now Vandyland, on West End Ave. Jerry Georges, the brother of Mrs. Anderson, came from Greece to work at the West End store. He had served as a soldier in the Greek Army in WWII. When Pete Stumb vacated the restaurant at the corner of Franklin Rd and Berry Rd, Jerry decided to open The Chocolate Shop in that space. I used a truck to help move large copper kettles and marble slabs that he used to make candy. When I came to work everyday in a factory behind the shop at five in the morning, I would pitch pebbles at an upstairs window, where he then lived above the shop. Later I would come back there for breakfast. He later married Helen who moved in with him. His ice cream was so rich that it would cling to the roof of your mouth. When the Communists took over Greece, Jerry’s older brother, Dino, a lawyer and “congressman”, had to escape that country or risk execution. He and his two sons came and moved in with Jerry and Helen. One of the sons was named Yannie who later opened a restaurant by that name in Green Hills. Eventually Jerry and Helen moved to Chattanooga. Ultimately I-65 took over the location in the late 60s. The Andersons had two daughters named Angela and Bessie, both of whom I knew and attended school with me. They worked some in both shops. I believe Angela married Nick Morris, who became Jerry’s partner. Later, Nick left to open the Sweet Shop at Hillsboro and Capers Ave. Today, The Sportsman’s Grille occupies that location.